Commentary and Opinion by Samuel Strait – May 26, 2023 I am beginning to think that the Bobble Head Club is a more apt title for our illustrious Del Norte County Board of Supervisors. May 23rd's meeting was nothing to be proud of, as what we have come to expect out of our County's leaders is a complete and total sell out to bigger government as a rule. I suppose it must remain a fantasy that local government in the slightest degree has a bit of embarrassment over the transparent effort to grow local government to a point where even a constant stream of grant funding will not cover the cost. The recent effort by the BOS no longer even pretends that the continual parade of new employees is anything but business as usual. Not that the public should complain when we no longer have an inkling as to what anyone does or whether or not they are the least bit necessary or affordable in this, one of the smallest Counties in the State. Yet, the show must go on. Closed session had "nothing to report", although when everybody is gone, the session will resume and maybe a report at next meeting, says County Counsel. On to the opening ceremonies, where Chair Short demonstrates his fine reading skills and various Supervisors assure us they are hard at work growing yet more of the local "nanny state". Supervisors Howard and Starkey are particularly adept at major accomplishments in that direction. Seems the Economic Forum that was held recently was quite the show, more hot air to spur the local economy. Low income housing, a vain hope, and hot air quality was for the most part Howard's contributions in his report. "The government has a solution for everything", Supervisor Starkey, long winded as usual, focused on the Tri-Agency, mental health, department head replacement in the future, juvenile hall services,youth activities locally, medication assistance, the County's sewer woes, the economic summit, the Sheriff, and Habitat for Humanity. Sounds like that about covers it. Not a lot of verbiage from either Supervisors Borges and Short, Wilson being missing as mentioned before. And we have the Consent Agenda, twenty five items, a majority of what passes for local government business. Nothing to see here folks, no need to discuss anything, twenty five items passed with a quick bobble of all four heads and 4-0 put the consent agenda in the rear view mirror. If you are thinking that I missed the pointless discussion of item #23 and Ms. Starkey's rather meaningless concern about qualifications and subsequent "No" vote one only has to realize that the County's government is riddled with unqualified employees, so what's another to add to the rolls. The remainder of the Agenda is riddled with contracts, agreements, and MOU's that have little meaning for a bulk of the local population and expend hundreds of thousands of dollars with no evident purpose other than keep the County's employees and contracted service providers fat and happy. Must be nice to go to bed at night without a care in the world while spending other peoples money at a prodigious rate and increasing at every meeting. After all, got to get all that budgeted money spent before June 30th, in order for department heads to plead not enough money in last year's budget, how about more for the coming year? Scheduled items featured a list of failures by County Bureaucracy just in the past few weeks, presented by Donna Westfall and the Del Norte Taxpayers association. The bobble heads were stoic and with glazed eyes gracing their collective faces uttered not a word of understanding. This seems to be the mechanism for the BOS to ignore the import of what is being conveyed to them, and move briskly on to the business of employing more useless employees and giving pay raises. Not that the cheer leading for various bureaucrats of the department of which a constant stream of failure ooze at each and every board meeting isn't important, must keep up morale after all. Wouldn't want to burden the pampered with the idea that much of what passes for County government is so utterly useless and pointless for that matter. And of course Vacation rentals made the comment period as well. Other items of "General Government" include the appointment of a Chief Public Defender, we are after all blessed with a population of less than 28,000, including the "fellows" out at Pelican Bay. Sonoma, population of a half million, has one, so according to Ms. Starkey, we must have one as well. Only another $1 million or so to start with. A proclamation about mental health by the Director of Health and Human Services, and a nice little pay raise for the second time this year. You wouldn't know it from all the cheer leading by the bobble heads, but DHHS is considered by most thinking residents as the most dysfunctional department in the County, but hey, what do I know. Guess the Board must be in bobble head heaven when those that point out the departments failures don't measure up against all the money squandered by DHHS. The GROWTH OF THE NANNY STATE. Moving on to a nice fat raise for our esteemed County Counsel as requested by the BOS. Seems like there has been a pattern established by the Board here, with more to come. Guess getting your salary bulked up twice a year will be the pathway of the future for those whose dysfunction is the trade mark of local government. A couple of ordinances to pass, yes you guessed it 4-0 like every thing else. A couple of items postponed, finding an absences of the probation head a problem, a new updated security system for DHHS at a miserly $6,000, and on to a budget presentation for Building Maintenance/Parks. Nothing unusual here, as the same litany of vacancies, "green" employees, and more money required. Looks like Measure"R" money, you know it as the "promised" funding necessary to fix County infrastructure, has graced this department with those crucial items, new pavement at the parking lots of the Veterans Hall and the Sheriff's Station, as well as that emergency "crisis" at Pyke's Field, replacing the netting around the baseball field. Other than that, Maintenance has received exactly zero Measure "R" funding from the County. CEO Neal Lopez says they are "saving it up" to do "really important things some time in the future". The word is that we will be thrilled by the list of "really expensive projects" yet to be drawn up. But really, really soon. And vital, crisis solving projects likely similar in stature to the flashy and pointless infrastructure projects that the City is blowing its Measure "S" funding on, Front Street, H Street, and 9th Street which hardly should have been the focus. Quite a work out for the bobble heads, two hours and change, twelve 4-0 votes and this misery is over. Might be that coming every other time, or even once a year, is sufficient to check on the "GROWTH OF THE NANNY STATE'.